


Don’t want you to get it on with nobody else but me

by TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel



Series: I Get a Little Bit Genghis Khan [2]
Category: Genghis Khan - Miike Snow (Music Video)
Genre: 1960s, Dancing, Homosexuality, Kids, Kissing, M/M, Panic Attack, Secret Agent's POV, Spies & Secret Agents, Supervillains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-01
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-05-24 03:35:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6140332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel/pseuds/TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Betraying your intelligence organisation by falling in love with a supervillain is arguably the easy part. The hard part is working out what happens next.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don’t want you to get it on with nobody else but me

**Author's Note:**

> Dammit, I am hooked on this fandom.

** Don’t want you to get it on with nobody else but me **

James woke the next morning to a loud knock on his door, and a loud voice saying, “Wakey-wakey, secret agent!”

James rolled out of bed immediately at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, feet hitting the floor under him. His gaze was already searching the room for potential weapons when the events of the past twenty-four hours slammed back into his mind.

He slowly sank down onto the bed again, wondering if he’d lost his mind.

“Secret agent!” hollered the voice from before. “You awake in there?”

“Yes, thank you,” James called out, on automatic.

“Righty-o! I’ll just leave some fresh clothes for you on the armchair,” said the same voice. There was the sound of a door closing, and then silence.

James rested his head in his hands as he thought over everything that had happened the previous day and night. He hadn’t really been surprised when Sphinx had caught him out and figured out who he really worked for. It had only been a matter of time before one of James’ missions killed him, considering the kind of missions he was usually sent on; and Sphinx’s people were known to be very good at what they did, taking out every secret agent who had ever been sent to assassinate their leader. 

As a result of their competence, James had found himself strapped to a table beneath a superlaser, waiting for death.

He had thought he had prepared himself for it, considering how long he’d known that death was coming for him; but he hadn’t expected the rush of sheer instinctive terror that he felt as he stared up at the laser, cuffed and unable to move.

He hadn’t expected, either, how much regret he’d felt at the fact that his pseudo-relationship with Sphinx had come to an end. The man might be a supervillain, dedicated to taking down organisations like the one James worked for: but he was also brilliant, clever, and fiercely principled in a way that James hadn’t been prepared for. It was the first time he’d ever met a supervillain who genuinely believed that what they were doing was the right thing; considering some of the shady things that James _knew_ his organisation had done, he wasn’t entirely sure that Sphinx was wrong. The other thing about Sphinx was that he’d been so genuinely delighted in and baffled by James’ apparent interest in him – it seemed that most people didn’t choose to get close to the man, brilliant though he was.

James had worked out pretty quickly that not everything in Sphinx’s file was accurate: for one thing, he was supposed to be as heterosexual as any other happily married man. But there had been no mistaking the fact that Sphinx was attracted to James – attracted, and possibly something more.

James had known that he ought to use that to his advantage – how many times had he seduced a target to get information? His bosses would disapprove, of course, given their suspicions about James own proclivities, but they’d expect him to do it, for the good of the mission. But James couldn’t bring himself to do it. Not that he needed to, anyway – Sphinx told him everything he needed to know as they grew closer, without James even trying to seduce him. James had collected all the information his organisation had sent him in for. It should have been a simple matter of disappearing with it.

But James kept pretending that he didn’t know how to bring Sphinx down, telling himself that he needed more intel – what if there was something important that he’d missed? Day by day, his mission had dragged on, feeling less like a mission every day. He and Sphinx had been dancing around each other for months – metaphorically speaking, that is – always on the edge of becoming something more. 

And then, he’d been caught.

But Sphinx hadn’t killed him. Instead, he’d declared his feelings for James, and set him free – free to walk out of Sphinx’s secret base and return to agency headquarters, with everything he needed to destroy Sphinx. James had the power to end Sphinx’s life, and Sphinx wouldn’t lift a finger to stop him.

But James had realised, in that moment, that he didn’t want to – didn’t want to destroy Sphinx, didn’t want to return to an organisation which wanted both of them dead. He was in love with the supervillain, and the last thing he wanted was to leave him.

So James had made a declaration of his own, and they’d danced, and talked, and more-or-less reached an understanding.

And now James was panicking.

He tried to breathe deeply, but he couldn’t seem to get enough air, his breaths coming fast and shallow. His heart was hammering in his chest. The crack of light shining under the door seemed far too bright in the darkness of the room, the air far too stuffy. James stumbled to his feet and over to the bedroom door, and opened it.

The room outside was brightly lit – someone had turned the light on – and a set of clean clothes had been left for him, laid over one of the armchairs: a plain black turtleneck, and a pair of black trousers. Whoever had left the clothes hadn’t taken any chances: they’d also left two varieties of undergarments, presumably so that James could choose whichever pair he wanted to wear.

For some reason this struck James as exquisitely funny. He started to laugh, and found that he couldn’t stop. He ended up sitting on the floor howling, stars dancing in front of his eyes, but still couldn’t stop laughing.

There was a knock at the door, but James barely noticed it. A moment later there was a hand on his back, and someone was saying, “Easy now, deep breaths – that’s it,” in his ear in reassuring tones.

James tried to follow the instructions. Eventually his laughter died away into ragged breathing, and the light above no longer seemed quite so bright. He looked up, to see who had helped him.

It was the henchman from the night before – Anton. He was looking at James sympathetically now, and when he realised that James seemed to have recovered from his laughing fit, asked him: “All right?”

“I am now,” said James. “Thank you.” He tried to summon up an echo of his usual debonair smile, but couldn’t quite manage it.

Anton patted his shoulder.

“Don’t mention it,” he said. “Breakfast’s in forty-five minutes, in the mess hall. If you want to shower and change, I can wait for you here and show you the way when you’re done, if you like.”

“I don’t need a shower,” said James, not wanting to make the other man wait too long, even though the thought of going any longer without one made him grimace slightly.

“Mate, I hate to tell you, but you really do,” Anton said firmly. “Stale sweat isn’t a good smell on anybody. And you don’t want to greet the boss like that, do you?”

“Oh, God.”

“That’s right, he’s expecting you for breakfast,” said Anton, cheerful in the face of James’ renewed sense of panic. “So you just pop back in there and shower and change, and I’ll wait for you out here.”

Trying to fight back the sense of panic – he was a secret agent, he should be more suave than this – James picked up the fresh clothes and walked back into the bedroom, turning on the light switch and closing the door behind him.

There was soap in the soap dish in the shower cubicle, so James quickly washed himself all over with it before rinsing it off, and drying himself on the towel hanging over the towel rack. He wondered if all of the guest suites in Sphinx’s secret bases were this well prepared. Wandering back into the bedroom, James changed into the fresh clothing, and returned to the living area where Anton was waiting for him.

“You’re being very pleasant, considering,” said James, as Anton led him through the base to the mess hall.

Anton sent him a sideways look.

“Well, it’s difficult to be a bastard all of the time. Besides, I saw your face last night, when the boss joked about you killing him. It’s pretty clear that whatever your game was coming in here, it’s changed.”

James swallowed at the reminder of what Sphinx had said. The quip hadn’t meant anything – but it had hit home, all the same, as James thought of all the other supervillains he _had_ killed, in the name of national security. The thought of hurting Sphinx, even accidentally, made James feel sick to his stomach.

“Normally I have a better poker face than that,” said James. “But –” He shrugged, a little wryly.

“Love’s like that,” Anton said sagely, and then they were in the mess hall.

Sphinx was there, sitting at one of the long tables. He was wearing the same clothes as the night before, and had a slightly rumpled look to him, as though he’d slept in his clothes. As James approached, he happened to glance up.

At the sight of James his face lit up, like a spotlight was shining on him, and he beamed at James like James was the best thing he’d seen all morning. 

James felt something catch in his chest, and his own expression soften into what his suspected was a look of sappy fondness.

“Good morning,” said Sphinx, when James got close enough. He was still beaming, and looked at James like he couldn’t quite believe he was really standing there.

“Good morning to you, too,” said James. Sod it – one look at Sphinx and the building panic in his chest had immediately ebbed. There was something endearing about the way Sphinx wore his heart on his sleeve – especially to James, who had been taught to conceal his own heart at all costs. Senior agents weren’t supposed to have hearts at all, or consciences for that matter; most numbed theirs with sex or alcohol, with drugs or adrenalin-fuelled antics that drowned out the little voice in their head, the one that questioned what they were doing. James had never quite managed to drown out his; hence the higher-ups’ displeasure.

Now, as he took a seat next to Sphinx, he thought that it was a miracle that he was even capable of loving someone in a more-or-less healthy fashion, after everything his agency had done to drive that out of him.

There were various breakfast foods laid out along the length of the long table, so James helped himself to some toast and some bacon. Sphinx was busy eating a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs.

One of Sphinx’s hands was resting on the table, and – after considering the idea carefully – James reached out to cover it with his own. Sphinx sent him a surprised glance, and James smiled at him – a little rueful, a little uncertain, but a smile all the same.

James couldn’t go back, not now. He’d thrown his lot in with the supervillain, and even now, in the light of day, he couldn’t bring himself to regret it – yes, he’d panicked, just a bit, but… that was to be expected, considering what a momentous decision he’d made. James was certain, despite his lingering doubts, that he’d made the right decision. He was an agent, for heaven’s sake – second-guessing their own decisions was trained out of them early, because second-guessing yourself was a sure way to get yourself killed. You made a decision, and maybe it was right and maybe it was wrong, but you stuck to it. This situation, in that respect, was no different.

Sphinx smiled back, still looking a little surprised, but he turned his hand over so that their hands were interlinked. For a moment they sat there, holding hands in front of all of Sphinx’s henchmen – none of whom seemed to have a problem with this, despite most people’s attitudes to homosexuals – before James gently squeezed Sphinx’s hand and let it go, so that he could devote himself to eating his breakfast.

“How are you feeling?” Sphinx asked quietly. James considered the question.

“Well, I got the panic over with already,” he said, his voice wry, and shook his head when Sphinx looked concerned. “It’s fine, Anton helped me through it. But now I just feel… certain. You?” 

“‘Certain’ is a good descriptor,” said Sphinx. “‘Resolved’ works, as well. Also, ‘extremely happy’,” he added, smiling, although his smile faded with his next words. “After breakfast, I intend to go home and confront my wife. It seems… only fair, to let her know as soon as possible.”

“I could come with you,” James offered, somewhat apprehensive at the thought of Sphinx facing down his former-assassin wife on his own, even though meeting Sphinx’s wife was the last thing he wanted to do, under the circumstances.

“I’m afraid that would likely make the situation worse,” Sphinx said dryly. “Don’t worry. As I told Craig, I’m hard to kill, James.”

James bit his lip against the words that sprang to mind: the words _I could have killed you a dozen different times_ were there in his head, waiting to be said. But James knew that the opportunities had only been there because Sphinx had trusted him – _still_ trusted him, by some miracle, despite knowing who and what James really was. He just hoped that Sphinx didn’t let his guard down too badly around his wife, the way he had around James.

“Alright,” said James. “Just – be careful, okay? I don’t want to lose you when we’ve only just gotten together.”

Sphinx’s smile was brilliant at that, and there were a couple of ‘awws’ from the nearest henchmen, who were unabashedly listening in. James tried to ignore their interested presence.

“I’ll be fine,” said Sphinx. “But thank you for your concern.”

The rest of breakfast went smoothly, and then Sphinx was getting up from the table.

“Time to face the music,” he said, looking like he’d rather do anything else. “Wish me luck.”

“I do,” James said – and because he was an agent, used to leaping head-first into things, he stepped forward and pressed a kiss to Sphinx’s cheek. “Good luck.”

For a moment Sphinx just stared at him, looking stunned. Then he smiled that brilliant smile again, his hand rising to touch his face where James had kissed him.

“Thank you,” said Sphinx. “I’ll see you when I get back,” he added. “In the meantime, feel free to take a look around and see what we do here.”

He hesitated a moment longer, still smiling; and then he turned, and walked away, towards the door at the far end of the mess hall.

James watched him go, hoping that things would go as smoothly as Sphinx seemed to think they would. Then he turned, and looked for Anton.

The henchman was sitting at a different table, and James walked over to him. Anton looked up.

“Something I can help you with, secret agent?”

“I was just wondering… when you lot kidnapped me from my hotel room, did you leave my things behind?”

“Nope,” said Anton. “We left everything neat and tidy, as though you’d decided to check out early. Your things are currently in one of the storage rooms. You want them brought to the room you stayed in last night?”

“Yes, please,” said James. “And… I don’t suppose you could show me around?”

Anton considered the question.

“ _Don’t do it, he’s still a secret agent_ ,” hissed someone from the other end of the table, but Anton ignored the injection, and said, “I should have enough time for that, yeah. You want to do that now?”

“If it’s no trouble,” said James, but Anton was already putting down his cutlery and standing.

“No trouble at all,” said the henchman easily.

James spent the next hour or so being shown around the secret base, while Anton gave a running commentary on everything.

The base was surprisingly large, considering that none of James’ people – former people, eh corrected himself; he’d left that organisation behind – had ever been able to find it. James commented on this, and Anton said, “Yeah, that’s because everything is underground – there’s some dummy houses up top, to make it look like a normal residential area, but no one lives in them in case someone ever tries to take out the base.”

“Clever,” said James, meaning it.

“The boss’s idea,” Anton replied.

“Well, I already knew he was clever,” said James, and the tour continued on.

Most of the different aspects of the base were the kind of thing that James expected to find, but one thing, at least, was surprising.

“You have a library?” James asked in surprise, staring around the small room.

“The boss’s idea,” Anton said again. “A lot of us have varied interests outside being henchmen, you know, and the boss likes to encourage that. So he bought a bunch of books and magazines for us to read when we’re off-duty.”

James wandered further into the room, moving between the shelves, looking at the different sections. There were both fictional and non-fictional books, of a number of different genres. James found himself looking at a collection of TIME magazines, and wished that he had his reading glasses.

“Is it alright if I come back here?” he asked.

“Not a problem.”

When the tour was over James returned to his guest suite, where sure enough, his suitcase and toiletries case were waiting for him. James opened his suitcase with a feeling of trepidation: but whoever had grabbed his things from his hotel room had packed them away neatly, even folding James clothes. His glasses case was still tucked away in the bottom of his suitcase, so James took them out, and closed his suitcase again, before returning to the base’s library.

He had been there for several hours, reading through back-issues of TIME and several other magazines, when Sphinx appeared in the doorway, looking weary. James immediately rose, looking Sphinx over with concern, but the other man appeared unharmed.

James blinked as he noticed the pair of children trailing behind Sphinx, but directed his gaze back to Sphinx’s face, taking off his reading glasses so that he could see Sphinx properly.

“How did it go?” James asked.

Sphinx grimaced.

“About as well as one could expect,” he said tiredly, and put a hand on each of his children’s shoulders. The children, for their part, looked up at James with frank curiosity. “Natalia… did not take the news well. She packed her things and left, after shouting at me for some time. I’m not sure whether she’s coming back.” He swallowed. “This isn’t the safest place for Clara and David to be, but… I couldn’t leave them alone.”

“Oh.” James looked back down at the two children, who were still staring at him. “Hello,” he offered – cautiously, because he didn’t have much experience with children.

“Kids, this is James,” said Sphinx. “He’s Daddy’s new…” and Sphinx hesitated on the next word, unsure of how to finish that sentence.

“Close friend?” James suggested, just as unsure as Sphinx. But Sphinx shook his head, and taking a deep breath, turned and knelt down so that he was looking the two children in the eyes.

“Daddy loves James very much,” he told them, and James sucked in a breath at how frankly Sphinx admitted that. “That’s why Mummy and Daddy had a fight this morning. But it’s not James’ fault, okay? So don’t be angry at him. I want you to be nice to James, because he’s going to be around a lot from now on. Do you think you can do that?”

The little boy – David – nodded obediently, but the older child, Clara, frowned, a stubborn look on her face.

Sphinx noticed.

“Clara.”

“But I thought you loved Mummy,” the little girl protested.

“I do, sweetpea. Your Mummy and I have known each other a long time, and I’m very fond of her. But I’m _in love_ with James,” said Sphinx.

_ Sweetpea? _ James thought. Oh, that was adorable. He tried to hide his expression before Sphinx could see it.

“But Daddy, he’s a _boy_.” Clara’s bottom lip jutted out. “You can’t be in love with a _boy_. You’re supposed to be in love with a _girl_.”

James saw the words hit Sphinx like a slap in the face, but the man never lost his patient tone of voice.

“That’s not true, Clara. Sometimes boys fall in love with girls, yes, but sometimes they fall in love with other boys. And sometimes girls fall in love with other girls. There’s nothing wrong with that. It just means that they’re a little different from most people, and that’s not a bad thing.”

Clara looked unconvinced. David, however, was listening avidly.

“Is James nice?” he asked Sphinx, staring at James.

“He’s very nice,” Sphinx assured David gravely.

He glanced up at James, a plea in his eyes. It was clear that when it came to his children, at least, Sphinx finally felt a certain amount of apprehension. But then, they hadn’t really discussed the kids, nor how involved James would be with their lives. Perhaps Sphinx felt that he was thrusting them on James without any prior warning, and wasn’t sure how James would react to their unexpected presence.

James, however, couldn’t resist that look – and saw no reason why he should.

He crouched down as Sphinx had done, until he was more-or-less at David’s eye-level.

“Hello, David,” James said, deliberately making his voice and expression as friendly and open as he could manage. “I’m James. How old are you?”

David regarded James for a moment.

“Five,” he said, and held up five fingers.

“That’s very grown-up,” said James, hoping that he was saying the right thing.

But David grinned, and looked pleased.

“I’m older than David is,” Clara declared, looking affronted. “I’m _seven_.”

“Why, you’re even more grown-up than your brother,” said James. Clara looked a little mollified, but surveyed him with a critical eye.

“Do you love my Daddy?” she demanded.

“I do,” James said, and Sphinx glanced away from his daughter for a moment to smile at James.

Clara continued to eye him critically.

“Well, at least you’re handsome,” she said grudgingly, and James managed, only through a lifetime of subterfuge, to suppress a smile. Sphinx didn’t even bother.

“Thank you,” said James, with as much seriousness as he could manage.

“When is Mummy coming back?” David asked his father, and Clara turned towards him as well. Both children looked at Sphinx expectantly, as though he held all the answers.

“I don’t know,” Sphinx admitted, the admission clearly painful for him.

Clara’s face crumpled.

“Is Mummy mad at us, too?”

“Of course not,” Sphinx said immediately, putting his hands on her shoulders. “But Clara, you know how when you get angry, you need to spend time on your own to calm down?”

Clara nodded.

“Well, Mummy just needs some time to herself to calm down, just like you do when you get angry. I’m sure she’ll come back when she feels better.”

James looked at Sphinx. The man didn’t actually look all that certain of the idea, despite the calm face he was putting on for his children’s sake.

“She’d better, buster,” Clara told her father, jabbing him in the chest with her finger. 

James couldn’t help his startled laugh, and all three faces turned to him in various degrees of inquiry.

“Sorry,” said James, mostly to Sphinx. “It’s just… you’re pretty authoritative, aren’t you, Clara?”

Clara looked suspicious.

“Authoritative means that you’re good at telling people what to do, and they listen to you,” Sphinx told her. “It’s a good word.”

“Oh.” Clara looked up at Sphinx. “Are you author – authorit–” 

“Authoritative?” Sphinx quirked an eyebrow. “You should ask James.”

“Your Daddy is very authoritative,” James assured the two children. “People listen to him a lot.”

“Do you listen to him?” David asked, and stuck his thumb in his mouth.

James couldn’t help smiling at that, a little ruefully, at the same time as Sphinx went still, clearly wondering what James’ answer would be.

“We haven’t really known each other long enough to work that out yet. But I’m pretty sure that if your Daddy told me I needed to do something, and he had a good reason, then I’d do it,” said James… and then glanced away, feeling awkward and embarrassed, at the look on Sphinx’s face. 

“You should always listen to Daddy,” said Clara, with the air of one reciting a known fact. “He knows _everything_.”

“Everything,” David echoed.

James bit his lip not to grin as Sphinx rolled his eyes to the ceiling.

“How many times do I have to tell you two I don’t know everything?” he said with affectionate exasperation, ruffling David’s hair. The boy yelped and laughed, grinning up at his father with patent adoration.

“Yes, Daddy, but we know that’s all lies,” said Clara, and James let his grin become open and obvious.

“You didn’t tell me you know everything,” James told Sphinx, and possibly he was being obnoxious, but, well. If the other man couldn’t take that side of his personality, best to find out now. “That’s a bit of an oversight, don’t you think?”

Sphinx sent him a look that said very clearly what he thought of James joining the children’s side, except that somewhere under that was a certain amount of relief that James was dealing with them as well as he was. James’ grin became even wider.

“Yes, truly, I am omniscient,” said Sphinx dryly. “That’s why I have yet to triumph over the distressingly long list of intelligence organisations out for my blood.”

James only grinned at him, and didn’t let on how relieved he was when Sphinx smiled back at him with the same fond exasperation he’d used dealing with Clara and David.

“Come on, kids, let’s get you settled into one of the suites,” said Sphinx, and the children followed him out, David waving goodbye to James as he left. James waved back. He’d never had much experience with kids, but those two… they seemed pretty adorable, if somewhat trying. James didn’t know what role Sphinx wanted him to play to the two children, but if what he’d seen of them so far was any indication, then James wouldn’t mind being part of their lives at all. 

_ Don’t get ahead of yourself _ , James reminded himself, because Sphinx hadn’t actually _said_ how involved he wanted James to be with any of them – the kids, or Sphinx himself. While James felt free to make certain assumptions, based on their chat last night, he didn’t actually _know_ , not for certain.

Still, given that Sphinx was in love with him, and willing to leave his wife for him, James figured those assumptions weren’t likely to come back and bite him on the arse later. 

Sphinx returned a little while later. He looked weary.

“Thank you for dealing with them so well,” was the first thing out of his mouth as he approached James. “I know we didn’t discuss how you feel about children –”

“I don’t know how I feel about kids generally, but I like yours,” James interrupted, embarrassed by the amount of gratitude in Sphinx’s face. “And anyway, it doesn’t matter, because they’re your kids. You guys come as a package deal. I understand that.”

Sphinx looked pleased.

“Still, you dealt with them admirably,” he said. “They like you already.”

“Even Clara?” James asked dryly. Sphinx smiled tiredly.

“Clara is rather strong-minded,” he said. “David is far more easy-going, but he’s also easier to talk into things, which Clara frequently uses to her advantage.” Sphinx sighed, smile fading.

“How are you holding up?” James asked.

Sphinx blinked at him.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

“I’m – _was_ – a secret agent,” James reminded him. “I’m used to experiencing rapidly changing circumstances. You, on the other hand, have just ended a nine year marriage in order to leave your wife for another man.”

“I have, haven’t I?” Sphinx murmured, and his smile was peculiar. James wasn’t sure what to make of it, and was about to open his mouth to ask whether Sphinx was okay when the other man stepped forward into his space in a single, fluid movement, and began to sing in a low voice.

_ I get a little bit Genghis Khan / Don't want you to get it on with nobody else but me. _

James blinked at Sphinx for a moment, but no one ever said James wasn’t adaptable. He sang back, in the same low tones, and the next moment the two of them were dancing.

There wasn’t much space in the library, between the bookcases and the table and chairs, but they made it work, flipping and leaping in the open spaces, all the while circling one another, like two celestial bodies in synchronous orbits. Sphinx was smiling, but his eyes were serious, and James understood that this wasn’t just a dance – it was an expression of intent.

The two men circled each other, growing ever-closer, until they were chest-to-chest, just standing there, still, in the middle of the library. 

Sphinx looked up, meeting James’ gaze head on, a certain amount of challenge in his gaze, a kind of _what will you do next, I wonder?_ present in his expression.

James had reacted all his life to challenges by facing them head-on, and he wasn’t about to run away from this one. He smiled, just a little, and responded by framing Sphinx’s face with his hands.

Sphinx’s eyes widened a little, but he leaned in at the same moment as James did, and their lips met a second later.

It was electrifying. James had kissed people before – plenty of people – both men and women; women openly and usually as part of his job, men more clandestinely, when he believed that there was no one else to see, and the person he was kissing wasn’t the kind to kiss-and-tell.

But this kiss…

Maybe it was the fact that James actually loved Sphinx, he didn’t know for certain, but this kiss was better than any other kiss he’d ever experienced. It thrilled every part of him, sending tingles down his spine, and heat shooting through him.

Sphinx gave a kind of surprised gasp, and wound his fingers through James’ hair and _tugged_ , pulling James’ head down further in order to deepen the kiss, and that shouldn’t have been quite so arousing, but oh, it _was_. James responded by bracketing the slightly-shorter man with his body, the two of them pressed up against each other.

After a minute James broke the kiss, panting for breath, and found himself looking into blue eyes that looked just as dazed as James felt.

“Wow,” said James, after a moment, injecting a certain amount of humour into his tone, even though he meant it.

Sphinx smiled at him, still looking dazed, and James was about to kiss him a second time when a dry voice said, “I’ll come back later.”

Both James’ and Sphinx’s heads whipped around to the open doorway, where one of the henchmen was standing with a long-suffering look on his face.

“Is there a problem?” Sphinx asked calmly, without untangling himself from James.

The henchman made a face.

“It’s Natalia, sir.”

“Oh, damn,” said Sphinx, and this time he _did_ untangle himself from James, and strode over to the henchman. “What’s she done?”

“Booked a flight to West Germany under her maiden name,” said the henchman, and he sent James an accusing look. “It looks like she’s planning to re-establish herself. She’s already talked to half a dozen of her old contacts.”

Sphinx looked pained. James slipped a hand into his to offer comfort, unsure of how the gesture would be taken. But Sphinx sent James a quick, complicated glance, his hand curling around James’ own.

“Double damn,” said Sphinx, and then, “Stop glaring at James, Greg. This was going to happen sooner or later, whether James entered the picture or not.”

Greg let out a small harrumph, but stopped with the accusing look.

“What do you want us to do, sir?”

“Keep monitoring her movements, who she talks to, etcetera,” said Sphinx. “Keep me updated. If she starts gunning for me, I want to know.”

“Yes, sir,” said Greg, nodding. He sent James one last mistrustful look, before disappearing.

There was a moment’s long silence. And then, because James knew Sphinx well enough for this, James said, “It’s not your fault.”

“Isn’t it?” Sphinx looked at him. Their hands were still intertwined. “I made the decision to leave.”

“You made the decision to end a lie,” said James. “And when it comes to lies – even pleasant ones – everyone is better off when they end. Natalia might be angry, but you can’t tell me that she’s best off living a lie with someone who doesn’t really love her the way she deserves to be loved.”

Sphinx looked unconvinced, so James said, “As a professional liar, I assure you that I would know,” with just the right amount of wry humour.

As James had expected he would, Sphinx smiled slightly, but he still looked unhappy.

“I can’t believe she would do this to the kids,” he murmured, and ah, so that was what was bugging him the most. “Just walk out and leave them.” He shook his head. “I don’t understand it. I could never leave them.”

James said nothing, because he didn’t know Natalia, had no right to venture an opinion. But in his experience, a woman scorned chose one of two paths: either she got over it, or else she let it dominate and define her life. Natalia sounded, regrettably, like she was choosing the latter.

“I’m sorry,” said James, because he didn’t know how he could possibly make Sphinx feel better about this. For once in his life, he felt inadequate.

But Sphinx smiled at him, and said, “Don’t be. Just having you here, knowing that you care – you don’t know what it means to me.”

James only squeezed his hand, and said haltingly, “The same goes for you.”

“We should go and collect the kids and join everyone else for lunch, or Gregory will be back with his mother-henning,” said Sphinx, with a twist to his mouth. “And while I appreciate his concern for my wellbeing, I’d rather do without the hovering.”

“To lunch it is, then,” said James, and smiled his most debonair-secret-agent smile. It won him a cautious look from Sphinx, and so James let the polished expression fade into a crooked grin that was far more real.

This time, Sphinx smiled back, tired, but obviously glad of James company, for some inexplicable reason. Sooner or later James was going to have to point out to this brilliant man that he really wasn’t as great as Sphinx seemed to think he was, but James preferred to delay that conversation for as long as possible.

For now, James would just enjoy his new beginnings, and take each day as it came.


End file.
